timdow

Before I switched to a pair of trainers (New Balance) and flats for riding, and due to the dilemma of deciding upon light or functional shoes, I wore clip shoes, brought trainers and also had flip-flops for shower and camp.

It was a very good decision for me to switch from clips to flat pedals and "regular shoes" for touring. Shoes take up a lot of room, and I don't think I get enough benefit from the clip shoes to be worth using them.

Though they are heavier than trainers, I am going to try riding in Keen hiking shoes for my next tour.

bobh123

I like Chaco Odyssey sandals. Closed toe, uppers are pretty smashable, comfortable, relatively light. They are even on sale at REI right now.

robow

I used Teva's for a while, extremely lightweight but the soles didn't hold up very well for me. Now using a pair of Skechers that weigh in at 13 ounces for the pair and they are quite comfortable and the soles seems to be holding up OK. Just not into sandals or crocs.

79pmooney

A Teva story. My brother runs and had run many events. (Boston Marathon a few times.) Showed up at a 10k but oops! forgot his running shoes. He was wearing his everyday Tevas. "What the hey!" Ran the race and never thought about his feet. No issues after.

I'd prefer closed toe but it really hasn't been an issue. I have enough sole in front of my toes that they rarely encounter anything other than dirt. (I wear them around the house.)

staehpj1

Teva makes a wide range of footwear ranging from lightweight flip flops to hiking boots. They also make some shoes that I guess you would call a fashion line. I always figured their most common product was a fairly heavy duty sandal line. It has been a while since I owned Teva sandals, but I remember them as fairly long wearing. I have owned some Teva flip flops more recently and the wear was a lot faster (like most flip flops), but probably longer wearing than Crocs. Can you clarify what you were referring to as Tevas? I am guessing one of the flip flop models.

FWIW, In my usage poor wear is not a huge deal for most flip flops or Crocs on tour. I do walk and hike some, but am on the bike or in my bike shoes even off the bike to go into stores or what not throughout the day so even fast wearing footwear lasts a long time for me on tour. It would depend on the amount of hiking, but I'd certainly wear the same pair for at least several thousand miles of touring in most cases. That is good enough that I wouldn't carry something heavier to get longer wear.

Here in Florida I go through flip flops fairly fast around home though. That seems to be true regardless of brand or model with only a few exceptions, it is just a matter of degree. I have some heavy Sperry ones at home that are built heavier and a last good bit longer. Even they don't last super long. In any case something lighter is more suitable to my needs on most tours.

robow

The Teva's that I owned were glorified house slippers. Though they had a couple laces on top, they didn't actually function as such. The soles were very soft, almost foam like in design and they disintegrated rather quickly with limited wear, and showed a thread like composition along with the "foam". They were very similar to my present Skechers but weighed in at a few ounces less.

Tourist in MSN

I have two pair of Tevas, one pair is quite stiff, the other pair I would call medium for stiffness. The stiffer pair weigh in at 780 grams, the medium pair at 395 grams. I often carry the medium pair on bike tours to use as shower shoes and also for campsite use. The stiffer pair, I brought those with neoprene foam socks (wet suit material) to use if I had to ford any ice cold rivers in Iceland, I was fortunate that I did not need to ford any rivers.

I think the stiffer pair would work fine for a day on platform pedals, but the medium pair I think would be too soft after a few hours.

Last summer when I was backpacking Superior Hiking Trial in Northern Minnesota, one hiker that I hiked with for a couple days was through hiking, he was carrying his hiking boots in his pack while backpacking with sandals, I do not know the brand. If I tried to backpack in sandals, I am sure I would have blisters at the straps and probably elsewhere. I just looked at my photos, I do not think his were Teva, they had thick soles and were dark brown.

The photo below, this is the pair I consider medium, I was not quick enough with the mosquito repellant in the campground in Big Cyprus (Southern Florida), that is what all those little red spots are.

Chilepines

FWIW related to bike touring vs long distance hiking - Altra Lone Peaks are probably the most common hiking shoe on the Appalachian Trail, with Crocs as camp shoes.

djb

What did you decide in the end? I’ve also always used spd shoes and light running shoes as post riding footwear. Always really liked getting into something different after a days ride.
I should mention that early on in my touring years I did only bring the riding spd shoes but regretted always being in them, so learned my lesson.
I once took some really light, cheap runners on some long trips, which were just so so comfort wise, later took slightly heavier but better runners and worth the extra weight for more walking on days off.

if the crocs are fine for walking they seem like a good compromise.

av1

I bought a pair of keen Newport H2 July 10th 2021 from the official local dealer and after wearing them for the summer mounts only along with my other sandals, a week ago i noticed a small crack in the left sole that started to get bigger.
I brought them to the dealer as the warranty was 2 years and to my surprise they refused to honor the warranty. Poor quality sole, extremely dissapionted and I used these only in fair weather city walks, no wet wading , no hiking, even no rainy weather. The soles of these are now made in Cambodga as per their label , not as my older Keens that are Oregon made and are still ok after 6 years.

Tourist in MSN

Contact Keen direct and show them you photos.

I had an issue with a brand new pair of Keens out of the box, sent photos, they sent me a "gift card (electronic)" that I could use to buy a new pair on their website, or anything else of same or less value.

Your photos do not look too bad, but with the warranty expiring soon, I understand your concern. Good luck.

av1

Thanks for the advice, i'll do that, its anoynig as the pair is lighly used, my other Keens are the Evofit 1 that i used and still use a lot harder walking and riding my bike too but they are holding just fine, my wife's Keen Whispers are doing fine for more than 2,5 years now too.

Calsun

I agree with the suggestion to take some flip-flops that you can wear in public showers. For bike shoes the mountain bike type that use a 2-pin cleat are good for walking around when off the bike. The Shimano XC1 are excellent and sold at REI stores so you can check the fit. With the Shimano shoes the actual length varies so for me a 44 sometimes fits the best and with other shoes it is a 45 size.

Flip flops take the least amount of space and work in showers to avoid fungal infections. An alternative would be canvas tennis shoes which also are relatively compact for packing purposes.

indyfabz

+1.

I took some cheap, canvas shoes from Woolworth’s (Remember that chain?) on my first tour. They did squish down flat. Wish I had brought flip flops. We stayed in several municipal campgrounds with not so nice showers. The one in Grand Rapids, MN (Home town of none other than Judy Garland) had mold on the floor and all four walls. When I do take them, I simply secure them under the bungees that attach my tent to my rear rack.

TiHabanero

I am thinking of making the switch to regular shoes for touring. Love using my SPD shoes, however I am looking to reduce the stuff I need to carry and to remove walking shoes from the must have list is a big deal. Going to experiment with it this summer on some weekenders to see how it goes. Works just fine for commuting, but on a 3 or 4 month tour that climbs the Rockies and the Appalachian range the pull back feature may be missed.

djb

The comfort factor may become an issue, or not, depending on the shoes and the flat pedals.
No matter what, I really always want to get out of the shoes I've been riding in all day, so some sort of light sandals or something are always, to me, a necessity.
I recently bought some cheapo schmeapo ® croc ish things, not really great for really walking, but light as all out.
For me, I still prioritise how my spd shoes are comfortable riding all day, so would prefer some really light running shoes as post ride shoes, but that's me.

Tourist in MSN

I use pedals that have both platform and SPD cleat, and carry both kinds of shoes. If one pair of shoes gets soaked I am pretty obsessive about keeping the other pair of shoes dry. If my cycle shoes are soaked and the next day will be dry, I will wear the dry shoes on the bike and let the wet pair dry out for a day.

A friend of mine that I have toured with tried to only use one pair of shoes several years ago on a tour until his shoes got soaked in several days of rain and were slow to dry out while he was wearing them, and that resulted in him having some foot problems with wearing wet shoes for too long. He now carries both cycle and non-cycle shoes.

indyfabz

Same. My riding shoes are comfortable, but I always want out of them at the end of the day, just like I want out of my kit. I’ve met people who don’t change out of their riding clothes for hours after getting to camp. Some have even gone to dinner wearing them. Don’t know how they do it, especially on warm/humid days.

Ron Damon

In hot and temperate climes, I bring one pair of shoes only: Teva-like sandals for on and off the bike. Where I live, one can get a good pair that will last you a few years for $20 so that's another plus. In cool, temperate climates I simply don heavy-wear wool socks.

pdlamb

Ditto, ditto, and eeuw! Even if it's hot and no shower is available, peeling off sweaty clothes, wiping down, and putting on clean(er) clothes at the end of the day's ride is one of life's little pleasures. Clean air hitting my feet? Priceless!

imi

I ride in running shoes (with clips), so don’t need a second pair of shoes. For many years I took flip-flops with me, but don’t bother anymore and walk around camp barefoot.

That said, flip-flops are good to have in dirty showers and even for jumping in the sea if you’re worried about broken bottles, stingrays etc.

rumrunn6

fyi these are
heavy
hard to stash in a bag
protect your toes
open toe sandals can be squished into a bag, better

I like these, however & wear mine quite a lot, but not good at the beach due to the closed toe. beach sand is better dealt with, with open toe sandals

indyfabz

The two guys I think about the most were the two I encountered in Rexford, MT in 2019. They had just finished dining at the restaurant in their riding clothes or a warm and humid afternoon. They had ridden from Libby, which had meant a lot of ups and downs and little to no shade. The federal campground there has no showers, but the restaurant sells them. (I knew that from 2 years earlier.) Based on the way they looked, I mentioned the shower opportunity. They scoffed at the $6 price.

djb

Re feet. For years when taking a lunch break outside or whatever when just sitting on grass for a longer break, I take off my shoes and socks. On hot days it's nice to air things out, a nice break from having the shoes on. Small thing but makes a difference for me.

Tourist in MSN

I used to think that sore feet at the end of a long touring day was normal. Then got a different pair of shoes and realized it is not normal.

Touring, I use Keen Commuter 4 (discontinued) that are comfortable on the bike, and also comfortable to wear off of the bike. Often have my tent up and my air mattress inflated before I get around to sitting down to change footwear, and sometimes forget to do that for a while longer. I can see the cleat hardware inside the shoe when I take the insole out of the shoe. I cut a piece of sheet steel (cut from the bottom of a large coffee can) with a tin snips to fit over the hole in the bottom of the shoe for the cleat hardware and tape that sheet steel in place. That makes a flat and firm foot bed underneath the removeable insole. That helps a lot.

I also have an old pair of Pearl Izumi shoes that seem to feel unusually good on long rides but are not that great for walking. I now only use these for randonneuring, saving them for when I need a comfortable pair to last a long day on the bike. That way I do not wear them out by walking with them. I did a 200k brevet this past weekend in those shoes. There were three of us that leapfrogged each other, the fastest of the three of us was a gal that would have to keep stopping to take one shoe off and rest her foot for a while. I was glad my feet felt fine at the end of the ride.

If your shoes hurt, if they have a removable insole, take that out and look inside to see if there is a firm flat foot bed under the insole. If not, that might be the problem. Let me know if you need a photo of my sheet steel modification to the foot bed.